Ken and Sandy Wickham

One of the highlights of the 2008 Colorado Springs Parade of Homes was The Sony Signature Home by Moeller Custom Properties. It's truly a work of art, and filled with up-to-the-minute Sony electronics and luxe amenities. The home is ideally placed on a 1.68 acre Flying Horse Golf Course view lot, in the guard-gated Flying Horse community. Flying Horse is just north of Colorado Springs, and boasts an award-winning Golf Club and a lavish Athletics Club/

Features include:

• Auto Court - Garages never looked so good from the outside. There's room for five cars, plus a motorcycle or golf cart - and... the garages are heated! All that's missing is the valet and your nattily dressed guests.

• Meandering paver driveway and a fountain in the front grassy area lend to the lovely curb appeal.
• Custom, ten foot, rubbed iron front door
• 20 foot high rotunda entry with a wooden ceiling inset

• Marble foyer floor
• Piano alcove/music room in foyer

• Custom cherry cabinetry throughout
• Spectacular great room with a fireplace and views of mountains and Flying Horse Golf Club
• Study/library with custom built-in bookcases, which have a very practical ladder to reach the top shelves. Roger Moeller, the builder, bought, dyed, cut and placed the leather insert in the study floor. The beautiful fireplace, with marble surround and beautifully hand-carved mantle, also has leather inserts.

• Butler's pantry with round sink and wine chiller
• Kitchen with top of the line appliances and every option, including a built-in espresso/cappucino maker
• 2nd round sink in the kitchen to complement the curved cabinet
• Spacious kitchen nook
• Covered outdoor living room with fireplace off the kitchen. The twelve foot Nana Wall is a spectacular feature that opens in several configurations
• Gorgeous wrought iron baluster by stairs

• Master bedroom with a beautiful sitting area on the other side of the 2 sided fireplace

• Custom crafted, motorized TV lift in the master bedroom

• Master bath has a stylish round tub, and a walk-in shower with a built in foot massager. The master bath fireplace opens to both the shower and the tub! Floors and counters are a gorgeous, creamy marble.

• Spacious master closet with crown molding, marble dresser tops, very practical and chic pull-down upper closet rods, and its own washer and dryer
• Private guest suite that would encourage guests to stay way, way too long.
• Home elevator
• Unique mirrored cornices
• Sony TruGolf Simulator - play 60 top courses from the comfort of your home. Great for those snowy days!
• Theater Room with curved bar pass-through

• Wine room
• Downstairs powder room with neo-classical style pedestal sink

• Interior Design by Nancy Lusk of Dynasty Design
• 9333 square feet
• Five bedrooms and eight baths
• Over 1200 square feet of outdoor living areas; some are covered
• $4,300,000

Photos taken with permission

Ken and Sandy Wickham are long-time Realtors in beautiful Colorado Springs, CO. If you have any questions about Flying Horse, Moeller Custom Properties, or homes in the Pikes Peak region, call them at 800-599-8500 ext. 1120 or 719-534-7919.

www.wickhome.com

While most of us have a tendency to sleep in on a holiday weekend, it's well worth our while to get up early at least one day during Labor Day Weekend. It's a glorious sight to see over 100 hot air balloons drifting toward the sky, at 7 am on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

The Colorado Balloon Classic, formerly known as the Colorado Springs Balloon Classic, will wow balloon lovers with colorful flights of fancy for the 32nd time. This is now the largest and the longest continually running hot air balloon festival in the Rocky Mountain Region.

If you do over sleep, you can still make it to the evening Balloon Glows Saturday and Sunday at 8pm. This is truly a unique site to see the balloons inflated and illuminated from within.

This free, family fun takes place at Memorial Park, off Union Blvd. and Pikes Peak Ave. In addition to the balloons, there are morning concerts Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and late afternoon concerts Saturday and Sunday. You can watch the balloons during the Saturday morning Volksmarch. Visit the Colorado Balloon Classic's site for more information and additional events, and to see some great photos.

Ken and Sandy Wickham are long-time Realtors in beautiful Colorado Springs, CO. They invite you to visit their website. To contact them, please call 800-599-8500 ext. 1120, or 719-534-7919.

The 2008 Colorado Springs Housing and Building Association's annual Parade of Homes ended Sunday. The attendance numbers aren't fully in yet, but the HBA is expecting the count to be about the same as for last year's parade - approximately 20,000.

The parade featured single family and town homes ranging in price from $233,995 to 4.4 million dollars. (Many lower to mid-priced homes listed "base prices" in the Parade book, so it's a little hard to compare. For instance, the Vantage Home at Stone Crossing listed the base price as $570,900, the sales rep said the home as presented - fully finished, a fourth garage stall, view lot, etc. - was 1 million dollars).

Some of the trends seen at the parade:

• Less of the Colorado Contemporary/Lodge style architecture and decorating. Many homes still had a strong Tuscan influence, but there were some Contemporary (Disney Signature Home), Craftsman (Robert Scott Custom Homes), and mixes of styles.
• Warm colors still prevail, though a few cool colors snuck in: most notably, the grey and blue (mixed with earth tones) in the Disney Signature Home,
• The color schemes relied less on brown. In the last few years, we've seen lots of brown-based granites; this year, we saw more yellow and beige backgrounds, and black. Tiles tended to lean more toward beige. Many walls were yellow-based tones, and carpets tended to be a yellowish beige. Taupe was also a popular color.
• Medium to dark stained woodwork. Some homes had stained woodwork in the living area and painted in the bedrooms
• Granite counters with tiled full back splashes
• Some wild, exotic looking granites! A few reminded us of tiger stripes.
• Some mixing of finishes on the kitchen cabinets, and also some use of two patterns of granite, with the islands different from the main counters
• Farm house style kitchen sinks
• Butler's pantries with wine chillers
• Wide width hardwood floors
• Wallpaper - think tone-on-tone fleur-de-lys type patterns - mostly in bathrooms, but the Vantage homes also had wallpaper in the kitchens.
• Beautiful Art Glass fixtures in several of the homes
• Pendant lighting in living areas
• Lighting fixtures attached to the bathroom mirrors, instead of above
• Fewer dedicated theater rooms, and some of those were more open to the family/game areas than in previous years.
• Elaborate lower level wet bars/second kitchens
• Decks with wrought iron or wrought aluminum railings. Decks were composite or concrete, and many had unobtrusive built-in lighting
• Outdoor "Living Rooms" with fireplaces
• Separate laundry facilities for the master bedroom.

Bar sink in Symphony Homes' Sonata II Custom

Some unique features:

• Unusually shaped bar sinks - a long, narrow one, a slender curved one, a custom shape, and several round ones
• Bamboo flooring (Robert Scott Custom Homes)
• A step-down Chef's Office - (Flying Horse Signature Homes, The Residence at Toscano)
• A motorized TV lift housed in a beautifully handcrafted wood cabinet - the TV is out of site until you use it (Moeller Custom Properties- Sony Signature Home)
• A $45,000 Truggolf Simulator, where you can play on 60 world-class golf courses (Sony Signature Home)
• Leather floor inset in a study/library (Sony Signature Home)
• A wine cellar under the circular staircase, with a custom wood-paneled ceiling - really sharp! (Stonegate Homes)
• An indoor glass walled swimming pool room with retractable roof (Tiffany Homes)
• A brick ceiling in the dining room (Symphony Homes - Sonata II Custom)
• A fully enclosed sunken courtyard, with an overlook from the outdoor living room/loggia (Copperleaf Homes - Trieste)
• A combination outdoor fireplace and fountain (Trieste)
• A Master Bedroom "Skylounge" - a second level retreat (Trieste)
• Intriguing closets and exercise room configuration off the master bedroom - walk a few steps down to one closet; in another direction go several steps down to another closet, which has a loft exercise room/retreat, complete with balcony, a full level above it (The Residence at Toscano)
• A contemporary glass kitchen back splash (Moeller Homes - Disney Signature Home)
• Use of 20 cast columns in the Residence at Toscano - some were exterior columns
• A built-in espresso machine (Sony Signature Home)
• A "Teen Area" - a large loft off the two upper level bedrooms, complete with big screen TV, microwave and mini refrigerator - it would also make a great guest area for empty-nesters or single homeowners.
• Master closet decked out with crown molding and marble! (Sony Signature Home)
• A walk-through shower behind the oval tub (Moeller Custom Properties - Feguson Home)
• Rotundas - Foyer to the master bedroom in The Residence at Toscano, and entry in the Sony Signature Home
• "Auto Courts" - The Residence at Toscano and Sony Signature Home. All you need is the valet, and some stylishly dressed guests with cool cars.
• Geothermal heating and cooling system (Copper Mountain Custom Home - Mountain Majesty)

Ken and Sandy Wickham are long-time Realtors in beautiful Colorado Springs, CO. If you have any questions about the Parade homes, the builders, or new or resale homes in the Pikes Peak area, call them at 800-599-8500 ext. 1120 or 719-534-7919.

www.wickhome.com

The 2008 Senior Open wrapped up on Sunday, August 3rd. The esteemed Broadmoor resort was host to this prestigious U.S Golf Association event.

Eduardo Romero of Argentina won the tournament and coveted trophy with a 274 score (six under par). He is the second Argentine to win the title; Roberto Di Vicenzo won 1980's inaugural event.

Runners up were: Fred Funk, back four strokes; Mark McNulty at 279; and Greg Norman, who finished at par.

Greg Norman is hugely popular and referred to as a "rock star" in the golfing world, but he may have been eclipsed by the black bear who ambled across the number 13 fairway during Friday's round. Some deer and fox also stopped by to check out the action and pose for the TV cameras.

While the number of in-person spectators fell short of predictions, the event was a success: 128,706 folks enjoyed the warm, sunny days and high caliber of play. The extensive TV coverage served as a great showcase for Colorado Springs and the Broadmoor, and many made their first visit to our city to attend the Open.

Ken and Sandy Wickham (only one golfer in the pair), are long-time Realtors in beautiful Colorado Springs, CO. They welcome your real estate inquiries. Contact them at 719-534-7920, or visit their website.

For the sixth time, the Broadmoor is host to a United States Golf Association championship. Colorado Springs and the Broadmoor Hotel are proud to host the very prestigious 2008 U.S. Senior Open, which starts today! Practice rounds go through Wednesday, and championship rounds run Thursday through Sunday. Over 150,000 spectators are expected. The Broadmoor is a beautiful backdrop, and the perfect place to observe the high caliber of play you'll see from the 156 professionals and amateurs vying for this year's title. Golfing legends Greg Norman, Fuzzy Zoeller, Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw are among this year's talented field.

The U.S. Senior Open has been held annually since 1980. Except for the first tournament, when the age minimum was 55, the Open has been open to players 50 and better. Arnold Palmer won the second Open. For more history, and players' biography's, see the U.S. Senior Open's official site.

Children ages 17 and under are admitted free throughout the even when accompanied by a paying adult. Off-site spectator parking (at S. Academy Blvd and Drennan Rd.) and the shuttle are free; for a map to the parking lot, click here.

Cameras are only permitted during the practice rounds, Monday through Wednesday only. Cell phones and PDA's are strictly prohibited. See the Spectator Guide for more information on policies, seating, concessions and other prohibited items.

All military personnel (active and retired) with proper identification will receive free admission, a voucher for a free lunch and a discount in the merchandise tent for themselves and their families on Wednesday, July 30; no advance registration is required. Present your valid Military ID to the admission gate to receive your tickets, vouchers and cards.

Tickets can be purchased at any King Soopers location. Call 877-281-OPEN or go through the site for tickets to pickup at the will-call box.

Ken and Sandy Wickham are long-time realtors in beautiful Colorado Springs, CO. To contact them, call 719-534-7920, or visit their website. They welcome your real estate inquiries!